The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is facing a backlash after revelations that it improperly provided thousands of sensitive tax and personal information about immigrants to immigration authorities.
This information, which is strictly confidential and subject to federal law, is sparking controversy as concerns are raised that the sharing process may have violated legal safeguards.
According to a Washington Post report, the IRS recently discovered that the personal information of thousands of individuals was incorrectly provided during a data sharing process with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
This incident stemmed from a request by the Trump administration to track down individuals suspected of being undocumented immigrants.
DHS requested the addresses of 1.2 million individuals from the IRS, and the IRS reportedly improperly shared the personal information of thousands of individuals while providing information on 47,000 of them.